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<br />.-. ;) -\" -. <br />Uul~~" <br /> <br />that the Upper Basin should be subordinated to the needs of <br /> <br />the Lower violates the principles upon which the law of the <br /> <br />River was founded. <br /> <br />D. Faint Hopes For a Resolution <br /> <br />Of course, this, and virtually all the other problems of <br /> <br />the Colorado River could be solved by just adding more <br /> <br />water. <br /> <br />Congress clearly recognized this panacea when it <br /> <br />passed the Colorado River Basin Project Act. House Report <br /> <br />No. 1312 declared, liThe answer to the Colorado River contro- <br /> <br />versy is not to try to divide shortages but to provide <br /> <br />additional water."78 The Act called for 2.5 m.a.f. more <br /> <br />water and authorized work toward the developmen't._9.f__an <br /> <br />augmentation plan. <br /> <br />In a decade during which the United <br /> <br />states asked for, and got, the moon, diverting 2.S m.a.f. of <br /> <br />water from the Columbia River to the Colorado River probably <br /> <br />seemed like a small matter. But in the ensuing years harsher <br /> <br />economic and political realities have beset this enterprise. <br /> <br />Investigations into water importation plans were suspended at <br /> <br />first until 1978, and then until 1988. See 43 U.S.C. filSll <br />(1982) (as amended by the Reclamation Safety of Dams Act, <br /> <br />Pub. L. No. 95-578, ~10, 92 Stat. 2471 (1978)). <br /> <br />It is now <br /> <br />unlikely that importation plans will be developed, let alone <br /> <br />implemented, in the forseeable future.79 Desalinization of <br /> <br />sea water is considered prohibitively expensive with current <br /> <br />technology. 80 It has been estimated that weather modifica- <br /> <br />tion programs could increase the water of the Basin by .9 <br /> <br />-27- <br />